The infamous Lady, 50 meters down in the belly of the USS President Coolidge!

Ammunition on board the USS President Coolidge.

The book that planted the dream.

Catalina 22, similar to Brians first sailboat.

Catalina 36, similar to Brians second sailboat.

The book that made cruising a realization.

SV Delos! Our home :)

Current crew of SV Delos in the Indian Ocean.

Here I am. 50 Meters
underwater. In a dark black hallway.
Swimming my way towards “The Lady”. I’m
following the bright yellow fins of a local dive guide, Sedi, through the maze
of hallways on the wreck of the USS President Coolidge, in Vanuatu, that has been
resting underwater since it sunk in 1943 during WWII from a friendly mine. I
look at my dive computer on my wrist and shine my torch at it. The background lights up in a flash of
beautiful neon green with an assortment of numbers which look a bit fuzzy from
the extra nitrogen racing around my brain. I see that I have plenty of time
before I go into deco mode, my air consumption is good and I have only been
underwater for 4 minutes. A bit of water
leaks into my mouth from the huge smile that takes over my face as the nitrogen
narcosis tingles its way through my body. Sedi is about 3 meters in front of me
with a very bright torch leading the way, pointing out army helmets, guns, and
medical supplies all left behind when the 200 meter luxury cruise liner-turned
troop carrier sunk. He is leading us on
a very famous dive to see a beautiful porcelain sculpture that had been left on
the ship from its luxury days. She is
known as “The Lady” and has become pretty famous in the diving world. People from all over the world travel here to
get a glimpse of her and give her a kiss on the cheek. At this point everything slows down and gets
quiet. My breathing calms, and in
between my breaths I hear nothing except the occasional exhale of other divers
around me. As I turn my head to look around, I do it at the same speed as a
sloth reaching for the next branch. I am
completely relaxed and have a moment where I think to myself “holy shit, this
is the best dive of my life, and how am I so lucky to be able to see this
magical underwater museum?” I have a moment of reflection and think about the
random circumstances that have brought me here.
To this moment, on one of the most famous wreck dives in world. Somehow,
all of the choices I have made in my life brought me to this place. To this wreck, in the middle of the South
Pacific.

----------

Let’s rewind a few years, back to 2002. My brother, Brian, was going to university in
Seattle, Washington, very far from the USS Coolidge. In fact, he had never heard of the Coolidge
before. While exploring a local bookstore something caught his eye. The title showed “3 years in a 12 foot boat”
by Stephan Ladd. Brian had always been
into adventure and this book was pouring with it. It’s a great story about a
guy that builds a 12 foot boat in his apartment, sells everything he owns, and
spends the next 3 years sailing his way down the Mississippi, through the
Caribbean, the Panama Canal, and even crosses the Andes by river!

Brian didn’t know it at the time but his life had just took
a turn. From the moment he picked up
that book his life’s path had veered away from the course he was on. Some years later Brian finished his degree in
Electrical Engineering and got a great job with Microsoft as a program
manager. He made it. All those years of
studying had paid off and he settled into the office life. Even though he was
happy and content with his accomplishments, that book, and the thought of
sailing never left his mind. As the years
went on, Brian eventually bought a small sailboat and kept it docked behind his
apartment. Taking his Catalina 22 out
for sunsets and weekend sails was the first thing he did when he had the time
and the weather was good. Even though he
wasn’t far from the city or office, once he stepped foot on that boat and
started sailing, the e-mails, the work, and the meetings, all disappeared into
the wind.

This was now 2005, and while my brother was in Seattle looking
into buying a new house, I was living with my mom and other brother in Orlando,
Florida. At the time I was 18 and Brian
was 28. Being in Florida I spent all the
time I could at the beach which eventually led to me getting my SCUBA
certification. Any time I had a break
from school I was either diving or surfing.
And during the longer breaks I would hop on a flight to visit Brian on
the other side of the country. We would
party, sail and be adventurous. Always
on an outdoor mission. As another year
past, I finished high school and ended up at the University of North Florida
studying a degree in Environmental Engineering.
In hindsight I can honestly say that I wasn’t in my element while
studying. I loved learning new things
and especially learning about the positive impact I could have on the
environment. But I felt that everything I was doing was for the wrong
reasons. I was only studying because
that’s what I was supposed to do.
Society had told me that you finish high school, go to college, get
married, work for 20 years and then retire and “live” life. This is exactly the
path I was on and it felt forced. I was
only doing it until I could figure out what the hell I wanted out of life. On a spontaneous spring break trip in March I
went to the Florida Keys with a big group of friends. I made it to paradise. This was where I felt at home and felt like
myself. Diving and swimming every day in
warm clear water, the thoughts of exams, studying and sitting in class rooms
left my mind with every exhale underwater.
During one of the magical sunsets that happen so often in this part of
the world, I ended up walking past the Florida Sea Base, in Islamorada. The Florida Sea Base is a Boy Scout camp
where kids from age 13-18 come from all over the world to spend 10 days diving
and living the beach life. They are taught to sail, dive, fish and be
respectful to the marine environment.
Not thinking much about it, I walked into the main office of the camp
and asked if they were looking for any staff for the upcoming summer. I didn’t
think I would have much of a chance having never been a boy scout and being
pretty new to the scuba diving world but I filled out an application, smiled
and told them I’m ready whenever they need me.
Spring break ended and I drove back home to a life of calculators,
books, and professors. Not more than a
week had passed when I got a call from the Florida Sea Base. “Hi, this is Capt.
Steve from the Florida Sea Base in Islamorada.
I see here on your application you have a lot of boating experience. Would you be willing to move down here and
work as a mate on one of our dive boats?” I could almost hear his smile through
the phone. I felt tingles go through my
body and didn’t hesitate for a moment.
“Yep, I’m in! When can I be there?” I hung up the phone with the biggest
smile on my face until I realized I didn’t have a lot of boating experience and
must have written that on the application because of my Spring Break drunken
haze that I was in when I filled out the application. Well, I wasn’t going to
call back and say I didn’t technically have as much experience as he may have
thought. I’d been on a few dive boats
and gone sailing with Brian in Seattle so I figured I could pay attention and
use common sense and figure it out. I spent the next few weeks selling all my
stuff and packing up my car for the 8 hour drive to paradise

In the meantime in Seattle, Brian was also having some
second thoughts on where his life was and the path he was one. He left
Microsoft behind to start his own web design and consulting company. He was in a long term relationship, was
successful, making good money and on the first class path to retirement. But something was missing. Was this really
what life was about? Working, stressing just to make money to buy things that
only give a false sense of happiness? His escape was still sailing and he was really
getting into it. By this point he sold his Catalina 22 and upgraded to a
Catalina 36. This boat was a real step up! Week long trips were now possible up
into the San Juan Islands. Brian was also devouring more and more books on
sailing. And even joined a local race crew to absorb all he could. This is when
he came across a book called “The Long Way Round” by Bernard Moitessier. A great story about a man who joined a Round
the World race for single-handed yachts.
He was leading the race, having already rounded the three great capes
when he decided to forfeit the race and continue on to Tahiti and the South
Pacific where he had friends and beautiful anchorages. This really added fuel to the sailing fire as
Brian’s mind realized people actually sail around the world! Not just around the harbor or even a few
hundred miles up the coast to Canada. This was different. This was leaving everything behind and
permanently living aboard your boat while sailing the world and traveling to
far off destinations. I remember
speaking on the phone with Brian around this time and how excited he was. “Bro,
I’m gonna buy a boat and sail around the world” He said to me. “What?
People do that?! Ohhh man, you have to take diving gear and a
compressor” I said back to him. That was
it. The seed had been planted, Brian and his partner made a 4 year plan. They
worked hard and saved money, even taking the bus to work. No more eating out, no more new cars, no more
vacations or spending money on unnecessary things.

Those years flew by for both of us. Brian was consumed with saving, planning and
researching while I spent the next 3 years between semesters at University and
summers working at the Florida Sea Base.
Although it was a job at the end of the day, I would have honestly done
it for free. Through the years I was
able to work my way up to Dive Instructor and Capt. I would wake up with the sun, walk to the
harbor in nothing more than a pair of shorts.
Take young eager kids out to see what lies beneath the surface. Come back watch the sun set with a beer and
do it all again the next day. I could
have carried on like this forever if it wasn’t for that voice in my head
telling me I needed a degree. University
was becoming less and less a priority though.
The ocean, sailing and diving was teaching me way more than I could have
ever learned in a classroom.

Marty Thomas on Aug 18th 2016Rad reading about the back story on how you and bro started to path to being cruising legends. Like many I've watched all the vids and now wait impatiently for every other Friday. Well written Brady, beers for the crew, if you ever come through Hawaii lets surf. Aloha!

Herman Miller on Aug 15th 2016I love your videos and am always waiting for the next episode. Cant wait to retire and buy my very own super meramu and sail the world as well!

Chris Heslip on Aug 14th 2016Planning on leaving the workforce and sailing the cariebbiean with my cousins next spring...watching your utube videos have convinced me to go ahead and throw caution to the wind....can't wait

Matt Monson on Jul 28th 2016It's been a pleasure to watch your videos and vicariously expereincee the world through your camara!!! I recently retired at 45 and took up flying. Designing a life similar to sailing. Converting a Cessna 421 into a flying home. But because I also want to sail the world I have just shifted gears and will be starting to sail soon. Just curious if it is feasible to live off of $150k annually? Thanks - Matt

Brady Trautman on Jul 28th 2016Thanks for all the love and great comments! Check out Part 2 here - https://blog.mares.com/introducing-delos-world-cruising-sailboat-part-2-1820.html#comments

Märta on Jul 27th 2016Such a great blog! You make it so clear that it IS possible, in some way for everybody. Looking forward to the next chapter!

Jpscott on Jul 27th 2016Awesome, can't wait for the rest!
I already have a plan to sail, you guys are a great inspiration!

Richard Frankhuizen on Jul 26th 2016Nicely written less the part of working for 20 years and retiring. More like 30 plus 😕

Mike on Jul 26th 2016Thank you for sharing the beginning's of your story I cannot wait for the next installment

Redds on Jul 26th 2016Wow. That's all I think about now a day. But time went by for me and just watch people Lake you do the dream. Safe sailing guys.

Howie on Jul 26th 2016Great read and just like your video's, I can't wait for the next instalment. Well done!

Courtney Gorman on Jul 26th 2016Brady, YOU have a way with words. Very nice story telling. Your writing is like a charcoal sketch, the picture is clear but add and little color and then you have a masterpiece!
Cheers

Greg on Jul 26th 2016Out standing start! Can't wait to read the rest!

Tim on Jul 26th 2016I love the writing style, good thing you went to University right Brody? You all have been a huge inspiration to me and I will be there too soon, I just have to figure out how.

Stefan on Jul 01st 2016Hi Guys,
very intersting article, very intersting life.
Let us know if you need somebody cleaning the hull for getting free equipage...;-) I am in.....!